Florentine goldsmith, A frame with enamelled roundels, c.1450–70

A frame with enamelled roundels

Purchased by the South Kensington Museum (now V&A) in 1856.

This frame was most likely made by a workshop of Florentine goldsmiths. A similar frame is in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. OA 5564). The Louvre example was coincidentally reunited with the silver relief originally placed in its centre, which the V&A frame has lost.
The measurements of the frames are virtually identical, and both display similar decoration in the waterleaf border and Gothic openwork, with four enamelled roundels in each corner. The V&A frame probably contained a medallion or a portrait, possibly of a Medici family member, given the symbols in the enamels. The figures of the four saints in the
Louvre frame enamels are similarly relevant to the religious scene represented at its centre. But the original setting for these works remains unclear.

The two enamels on the V&A frame displaying a shield with the eight red Medici palle (balls) led
to both frames being associated with Cosimo de’ Medici who used those arms. However, closer inspection has now revealed that the arms are later additions, although it remains unclear why this particular heraldry was chosen.
The left- and right-hand panels with scrolling foliage are also later, possibly inserted as part of a subsequent restoration. The diamond ring with feathers in the other enamels is the impresa of
Cosimo’s son, Piero the Gouty, providing a latest possible date of Piero’s death in 1469. It has been
suggested that the Louvre frame and silver panel were potentially designed for Piero, who treasured
an extensive collection of intricate and lavishly decorated objects, housed in his study.
Both frames display similarities with contemporary Florentine art, including manuscript illuminations, and sculptural works such as the foliate border on Luca della Robbia’s Cantoria for Florence Cathedral (now Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) of 1431–8,
demonstrating the broad artistic knowledge acquired by Florentine Quattrocento goldsmiths.

3269-1856